Federico García Lorca (Spanish pronunciation: [feðeˈɾiko ɣarˈθia ˈlorka]) (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is thought to be one of the many thousands who were 'disappeared' and executed by Nationalists at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War[1][2][3]. In 2008, a Spanish judge opened an investigation into Lorca's death. Lorca's family dropped objections to the excavation of a possible gravesite near Alfacar[4] but no human remains were found.[5]

Biography

García Lorca was born on 5 June 1898, in Fuente Vaqueros, a small town a few miles from Granada in Spain. His father owned a farm in the fertile vega surrounding Granada and a comfortable villa in the heart of the city. His mother was a gifted pianist. In 1909, his family moved to the city of Granada. In 1915, after graduating from secondary school, García Lorca attended Sacred Heart University. During this time his studies included law, literature, composition and piano. During 1916 and 1917, García Lorca traveled throughout Castile, Léon, and Galicia, in northern Spain, with a professor of his university, who also encouraged him to write his first book, Impresiones y Paisajes (Impressions and Landscapes – published 1918).

Statue of Lorca in the Plaza de Santa Ana, Madrid

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As a young writer

His time at Granada's Arts Club furnished him with influential associations that would prove useful following his move, in 1919, to the Residencia de estudiantes in Madrid. Here he would befriend Manuel de Falla, Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí and many other creative artists who were, or would become, influential across Spain. In Madrid, he met Gregorio Martínez Sierra, the Director of Madrid's Teatro Eslava. In 1919–20, at Sierra's invitation, he wrote and staged his first play, El maleficio de la mariposa . It was a verse play dramatising the impossible love between a cockroach and a butterfly, with a supporting cast of other insects; it was laughed off stage by an unappreciative public after only four performances and influenced García Lorca's attitude to the theatre-going public for the rest of his career. He would later claim that Mariana Pineda, written in 1927, was, in fact, his first play.

Over the next few years García Lorca became increasingly involved in Spain's avant-garde. He published poetry collections including Canciones (Songs) and Romancero Gitano (translated as Gypsy Ballads, 1928), his best known book of poetry. The poem Romance Sonambulo (Ballad of the Sleepwalker), the begins with the refrain:

Green, how I want you green.
Green wind. Green branches.
The ship out on the sea
and the horse on the mountain.
With the shade around her waist
she dreams on her balcony,
green flesh, her hair green,
with eyes of cold silver.
Green, how I want you green…

His second play Mariana Pineda, with stage settings by Dalí, opened to great acclaim in Barcelona in 1927. In 1926, García Lorca wrote the play The Shoemaker's Prodigious Wife which would not be shown until the early 1930s. It was a farce about fantasy, based on the relationship between a flirtatious, petulant wife and a hen-pecked shoemaker.

From 1925 to 1928 he was passionately involved with Salvador Dalí.[6] The friendship with Lorca had a strong element of mutual passion,[7] but Dalí rejected the erotic advances of the poet.[8] Towards the end of the 1920s, García Lorca became increasingly depressed, a situation exacerbated by his anguish over his homosexuality. The success of Romancero Gitano intensified a painful and personal dichotomy : he was trapped between the persona of the successful author, which he was forced to maintain in public, and the tortured, authentic self, which he could only acknowledge in private.

Growing estrangement between García Lorca and his closest friends reached its climax when surrealistsDalí and Luis Buñuel collaborated on their 1929 film Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog). García Lorca interpreted it, perhaps erroneously, as a vicious attack upon himself and the film ended García Lorca's affair with Dalí. At this time Dalí also met his future wife Gala. His intensely passionate but fatally one-sided affair with the sculptor Emilio Aladrén was also collapsing as the latter became involved with his future wife. Aware of these problems (though not perhaps of their causes), García Lorca's family arranged for him to take a lengthy visit to the United States in 1929–30.

While in America, García Lorca stayed mostly in New York City, where he studied briefly at Columbia University School of General Studies. His collection Poeta en Nueva York explores alienation and isolation through some graphically experimental poetic techniques. His Play El Público (The Public) was not published until the late 1970s and has never been published in its entirety (the manuscript is lost).

Although García Lorca's artwork doesn't often receive attention he was also a keen artist.[10][11]

The Republic

His return to Spain in 1930 coincided with the fall of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera and the re-establishment of the Spanish Republic. In 1931, García Lorca was appointed as director of a university student theatre company, Teatro Universitario la Barraca (The Shack). This was funded by the Second Republic's Ministry of Education, and it was charged with touring Spain's remotest rural areas in order to introduce audiences to radically modern interpretations of classic Spanish theatre. As well as directing, García Lorca also acted. While touring with La Barraca, he wrote his now best-known plays, the Rural Trilogy of Bodas de Sangre (Blood Wedding), Yerma and La Casa de Bernarda Alba (The House of Bernarda Alba). He distilled his theories on artistic creation and performance in a famous lecture Play and Theory of the Duende, first given in Buenos Aires in 1933. García Lorca argued that great art depends upon a vivid awareness of death, connection with a nation's soil, and an acknowledgment of the limitations of reason.[12] The group's subsidy was cut in half by the new government in 1934, and la Barraca's last performance was given in April 1936.

It is thought that García Lorca was shot and killed by Nationalist militia on 19 August 1936. The writer Ian Gibson in his book The Assassination of Garcia Lorca states that he was shot with three others (naming Joaquin Arcollas Cabezas, Francisco Galadi Mergal and Dioscoro Galindo Gonzalez as fellow victims) at a place known as the Fuente Grande, or Fountain of Tears in Arabic, which is on the road between Viznar and Alfacar.

Significant controversy remains about the motives and details of his death. Personal, non-political motives have also been suggested. García Lorca's biographer, Stainton, states that his killers made remarks about his sexual orientation, suggesting that it played a role in his death.[15]Ian Gibson states that García Lorca's assassination was part of a campaign of mass executions directed to eliminate all the supporters of the Popular Front.[14]Gibson proposes that it is likely that rivalry between right wing groups was a major factor in his death; Former CEDA Parliamentary Deputy, Ramon Ruiz Alonso not only arrested García Lorca at the Rosales' home, but also the one responsible for the original denunciation that led to the arrest warrant being issued.

It has been argued that García Lorca was apolitical and had many friends in both Republican and Nationalist camps. Gibson questions this in his 1978 book on the poet's death.[14] He cites, for example, Mundo Obrero's published manifesto, which Lorca later signed, indicating he was an active supporter of the (left wing) Popular Front.[16] Lorca read this manifesto out at a banquet in honour of fellow poet Rafael Alberti on 9 February 1936.

It is beyond question that other anti-communist poets were sympathetic to Lorca or assisted him; Roy Campbell for example translated his work.

In the days before his arrest he found shelter in the house of the artist and leading (right wing) Falange member, Luis Ortiz Rosales. Indeed, evidence suggests that Rosales was very nearly shot as well for helping García Lorca by the Civil Governor Valdes.

The Basque poet and Communist Gabriel Celaya wrote in his memoirs that he once found García Lorca in the company of Falangist José Maria Aizpurua. Celaya wrote that Lorca dined with Falangist leader José Antonio Primo de Rivera every Friday.[17] On 11 March 1937 an article appeared in the Falangist press criticizing the murder and lionizing García Lorca; the article opened: "The finest poet of Imperial Spain has been assassinated."[18] There was also the 'homosexual jealousy' theory that was published by Jean-Louis Schonberg,[19].

The dossier on the murder, compiled at Franco's request, and referred to by Gibson and others has yet to surface.

"Then I realised I had been murdered. They looked for me in cafes, cemeteries and churches .... but they did not find me. They never found me? No. They never found me."

Following his death

Banned works

Franco's Falangist regime placed a general ban on García Lorca's work, which was not rescinded until 1953. That year, a (censored) Obras Completas (Complete works) was released. Following this, Bodas de Sangre (Blood Wedding), Yerma and La casa de Bernarda Alba were successfully played in the main Spanish stages. Obras Completas did not include his late heavily homoerotic Sonnets of Dark Love, written in November 1935 and shared only with close friends. They were lost until 1983/4 when they were finally published in draft form (no final manuscripts have ever been found.) It was only after Franco's death that García Lorca's life and death could be openly discussed in Spain. This was due, not only to political censorship, but also to the reluctance of the García Lorca family to allow publication of unfinished poems and plays prior to the publication of a critical edition of his works.

Exhumation attempts at Alfácar

The site of the excavation as it was in 1999

In late October 2009, a team of archaeologists and historians from the University of Granada began excavations outside Alfácar.[21] The site was identified three decades ago by a man who claimed to have helped dig Lorca's grave.[22][23] Lorca was thought to be buried with at least three other men beside a winding mountain road that connects the villages of Viznar and Alfácar.[24]

There is a growing desire in Spain to come to terms with the civil war, which for decades was not openly discussed.[25] The judge in the case, Judge Garzon, formally requested local government and churches to open their files on the thousands of people who disappeared during the Civil War and under the dictatorship of General Franco until 1975.[26]

The excavations began at the request of another victim's family.[27] Following a long-standing objection, the Lorca family also gave their permission.[27] In October 2009 Francisco Espinola, a spokesman for the Justice Ministry of the Andalusian regional government, said that after years of pressure García Lorca's body would "be exhumed in a matter of weeks".[28] Lorca's relatives, who had initially opposed an exhumation, said they might provide a DNA sample in order to identify his remains.[27]

In late November 2009, after two weeks of excavating the site, organic material believed to be human bones was recovered. The remains were taken to the University of Granada for examination.[29] But in mid December, 2009, doubts were raised as to whether the poet's remains would be found.[30] The dig produced "not one bone, item of clothing or bullet shell", said Begona Alvarez, justice minister of Andalucia. She added, "the soil was only 40cm (16in) deep, making it too shallow for a grave".[31][32]

Memorials

García Lorca is honored by a statue prominently located in Madrid's Plaza de Santa Ana. Political philosopher David Crocker reports that "the statue, at least, is still an emblem of the contested past: "each day, the Left puts a red kerchief on the neck of the statue, and someone from the Right comes later to take it off."[33]

The Lorca Foundation, directed by Lorca's niece Laura García Lorca, sponsors the celebration and dissemination of the writer's work and is currently building the Lorca Centre in Madrid. The Lorca family gave all Lorca's documentation to the foundation which holds it on their behalf.[34]

The García Lorca family summer home at Huerta de San Vicente was opened to the public in 1995 as a museum. The grounds, including nearly two hectares of land, the two adjoining houses, artworks and the original furnishings have been preserved.[35]

List of major works

Poetry collections

Impresiones y paisajes (Impressions and Landscapes 1918)

Poema del cante jondo (Poem of Deep Song; written 1921 but not published until 1931)

Libro de poemas (Book of Poems 1921)

Romancero gitano (Gypsy Ballads 1928)

Poeta en Nueva York (written 1930 - published posthumously in 1940, first translation into English as The Poet in New York 1940)[36]

List of works based on Lorca

Criticism

Poetry based on Lorca

Greek poet Nikos Kavvadias's poem Federico García Lorca, in Kavvadias' Marabu collection, is dedicated to the memory of García Lorca and juxtaposes his death with war crimes in the village of Distomo, Greece, where the Nazis executed over two hundred people.

The New York based Spanish language poet Giannina Braschi published El imperio de los sueños, a poetic homage to Poet in New York (1st edition: Anthropos editorial del hombre, 1988; 2nd edition: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico).

Harold Norse has a poem, We Bumped Off Your Friend the Poet, inspired by a review of Ian Gibson'sDeath of Lorca. The poem first appeared in Hotel Nirvana,[38] and more recently in In the Hub of the Fiery Force, Collected Poems of Harold Norse 1934–2003[39]

The Turkish poet Turgut Uyar wrote the poem Three Poems For Federico García Lorca including a line in Spanish:obra completas

The Irish poet Michael Hartnett published an English translation of García Lorca's poetry. García Lorca is also a recurring character in much of Hartnett's poetry, most notably in the poem A Farewell to English..

The American composer George Crumb utilizes much of García Lorca's poetry in works such as his Ancient Voices of Children, his four books of Madrigals, and parts of his Makrokosmos.

Composer Osvaldo Golijov and playwright David Henry Hwang wrote the one-act opera Ainadamar ("Fountain of Tears") about the death of García Lorca, recalled years later by his friend the actress Margarita Xirgu, who could not save him. It opened in 2003, with a revised version in 2005. A recording of the work released in 2006 on the Deutsche Grammophon label (Catalog #642902) won the 2007 Grammy awards for Best Classical Contemporary Composition and Best Opera Recording.

The French composer Maurice Ohana set to music García Lorca's poem Lament for the death of a Bullfighter(Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías) recorded by the conductor Ataúlfo Argenta in the 1950s

Spanish rock band Marea made a rock version of the poem Romance de la Guardia Civil española, named "Ciudad de los Gitanos".

In 1968, Joan Baez sang translated renditions of García Lorca's poems, "Gacela Of The Dark Death" and "Casida of the Lament" on her spoken-word poetry album, Baptism.

In 1986, Leonard Cohen's English translation of the poem "Pequeño vals vienés" by García Lorca reached #1 in the Spanish single charts (as "Take This Waltz", music by Cohen). Cohen has described García Lorca as being his idol in his youth, and named his daughter Lorca Cohen for that reason.[42]

Missa Lorca by Italian composer Corrado Margutti (2008) is a choral setting of the Latin Mass text and the poetry of Lorca. U.S. premiere, 2010.

In 1967, composer Mikis Theodorakis set to music seven poems of the Romancero Gitano – translated into Greek by Odysseas Elitis in 1945. Given the same title, the work was premiered in Rome in 1970. In 1981, under commission of the Komische Oper in Berlin, the composition was orchestrated as a symphonic work entitled Lorca. In the mid 1990s, Theodorakis rearranged the work as an instrumental piece for guitar and symphony orchestra.[43][44][45]

In 1989, American composer Stephen Edward Dick created new music for Lorca's ballad Romance Sonambulo, based on the original text, and with permission from Lorca's Estate. The piece is set for solo guitar, baritone and flamenco dance, and was performed in 1990 at the New Performance Gallery in San Francisco. The second performance took place in Canoga Park, Los Angeles in 2004.

Theatre, film and television based on Lorca

Playwright Nilo Cruz wrote the surrealistic drama Lorca in a Green Dress about the life, death, and imagined afterlife of García Lorca. The play was first performed in 2003 at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The Cruz play Beauty of the Father (2010) also features Lorca's ghost as a key character.[46]

British playwright Peter Straughan wrote a play (later adapted as a radio play) based on García Lorca's life, The Ghost of Federico Garcia Lorca Which Can Also Be Used as a Table.

TVE broadcast a six hour mini-series based on key episodes on García Lorca's life in 1987. British actor Nickolas Grace played the poet, although he was dubbed by a Spanish actor.

Miguel Hermoso's La Luz Prodigiosa (The End of a Mystery) is a Spanish film based on Fernando Macías' novel with the same name, which examines what might have happened if García Lorca had survived his execution at the outset of the Spanish Civil War.

^Encyclopædia Britannica: "From 1925 to 1928, García Lorca was passionately involved with Salvador Dalí. The intensity of their relationship led García Lorca to acknowledge, if not entirely accept, his own homosexuality."

^ For more in-depth information about the Lorca-Dalí connection see Lorca-Dalí: el amor que no pudo ser and The Shameful Life of Salvador Dalí, both by Ian Gibson.

^ Bosquet, Alain, Conversations with Dalí, 1969. p. 19–20. (PDF format) (of Garcia Lorca) 'S.D.:He was homosexual, as everyone knows, and madly in love with me. He tried to screw me twice .... I was extremely annoyed, because I wasn’t homosexual, and I wasn’t interested in giving in. Besides, it hurts. So nothing came of it. But I felt awfully flattered vis-à-vis the prestige. Deep down I felt that he was a great poet and that I owe him a tiny bit of the Divine Dalí's asshole.'

Black are the horses.
The horseshoes are black.
On the dark capes glisten
stains of ink and wax.
Their skulls are leaden,
which is why they do not weep.
With their patent leather souls
they come down the street.

The wounds were burning like suns
at five in the afternoon,
and the crowd broke the windows
At five in the afternoon.
Ah, that fatal five in the afternoon!
It was five by all the clocks!
It was five in the shade of the afternoon!

But now he sleeps endlessly.
Now the moss and the grass
open with sure fingers
the flower of his skull.
And now his blood comes out singing;
singing along marshes and meadows,
slides on frozen horns,
faltering souls in the mist
stumbling over a thousand hoofs
like a long, dark, sad tongue,
to form a pool of agony
close to the starry Guadalquivir.
Oh, white wall of Spain!
Oh, black bull of sorrow!
Oh, hard blood of Ignacio!
Oh, nightingale of his veins!

The bull does not know you, nor the fig tree,
nor the horses, nor the ants in your own house.
The child and the afternoon do not know you
because you have died forever.

The shoulder of the stone does not know you
nor the black silk on which you are crumbling.
Your silent memory does not know you
because you have died forever

The autumn will come with conches,
misty grapes and clustered hills,
but no one will look into your eyes
because you have died forever.

Because you have died for ever,
like all the dead of the earth,
like all the dead who are forgotten
in a heap of lifeless dogs.

Nobody knows you. No. But I sing of you.
For posterity I sing of your profile and grace.
Of the signal maturity of your understanding.
Of your appetite for death and the taste of its mouth.
Of the sadness of your once valiant gaiety.

You have always been smart. You have always looked for the
worst in people, and have been quick to notice when people are up
to no good... But in the case of your children, you are blind.

Act II (ll. 833–835)

Quotations about Lorca

"I suppose he had the good luck to be executed, no? I had an
hour's chat with him in Buenos Aires. He struck me as a kind of
play actor, no? Living up to a certain role. I mean, being a
professional Andalusian... But in the case of Lorca, it was very
strange because I lived in Andalusia and the Andalusians aren't a
bit like that. His were stage Andalusians. Maybe he thought that in
Buenos Aires he had to live up to that character, but in Andalusia,
people are not like that. In fact, if you are in Andalusia, if you
are talking to a man of letters and you speak to him about
bullfights, he'll say, 'Oh well, that sort of this pleases people,
I suppose, but really the torero works in no danger whatsoever.'
Because they are bored by these things, because every writer is
bored by the local color in his own country. Well, when I met
Lorca, he was being a professional Andalusian... Besides, Lorca
wanted to astonish us. He said to me that he was very troubled
about a very important figure in the contemporary world. A
character in whom he could see all the tragedy of American life.
And then he went on in this way until I asked him who was this
character and it turned out this character was Mickey Mouse. I suppose he was trying to
be clever. And I thought, 'That's the kind of thing you say when
you are very, very young and you want to astonish somebody.' But
after all, he was a grown man, he had no need, he could have talked
in a different way. But when he started in about Mickey Mouse being
a symbol of America, there was a friend of mine there and he looked
at me and I looked at him and we both walked away because we were
too old for that kind of game, no? Even at that time."

Richard Burgin, Conversation with Jorge Luis Borges,
pages 92-93.

"Well, [Lorca had] a gift for gab. For example, he makes
striking metaphors, but I think he makes striking metaphors for
him, because I think that his world was mostly verbal.I think that
he was fond of playing words against each other, the contrast of
words, but I wonder if he knew what he was doing."